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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25972672">A Thousand and One Kisses</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtemisLunala/pseuds/ArtemisLunala'>ArtemisLunala</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Admissions of Love, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, unapologetic lesbians</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:21:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,178</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25972672</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtemisLunala/pseuds/ArtemisLunala</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You and Shuri are useless lesbians. That's it. That's the whole plot. This started as a platonic piece, but I'm a touch to wlw for that so it turned into romantic fluff.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Shuri (Marvel)/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Thousand and One Kisses</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was supposed to be a routine mission. So routine, in fact, that Okoye felt completely safe bringing you, a simple Dora Milaje trainee, along for the ride. This was a big move for you, as up until this point you had just been doing combat training and guarding the princess of Wakanda. Not that that was a problem, it had allowed you to get close to and eventually become friends with Shuri herself. Of course, your friendship with the princess started the same way all good ‘friendships’ should.</p><p>With a kiss.</p><p>You were training. God, weren’t you always? You were learning the Dora art of stone, or in layman’s terms, you were learning how to stand really still and not show any emotions no matter what happens around you. This role was important to you and to Wakanda, and you so badly wanted to succeed. So far you had worked through every trial so far, through Okoye’s mocking and Nakia pulling faces at you (the king-consort acting like a hyperactive five-year-old was perhaps one of the weirder experiences in your life but none-the-less you worked through it.) That’s when Shuri walked in, focused on something in her beads, and Okoye asked her a fateful question.</p><p>“Shuri, we are training a new recruit. Can you think of anything to break her?”</p><p>Shuri looked up at us and strolled over, you watching out of the corner of your eyes. She looked you up and down for a second, then smirked, walked right up to you and pecked you on the cheek. Whether shock or embarrassment, you broke completely, bursting out laughing and doubling over.</p><p>“Y/N!” Okoye said, startled.</p><p>“I’m sorry!” You chuckled, shaking your head and taking a deep breath to steady yourself. “I can do this.” You reassured her, getting back into position, but it didn’t last. Shuri kissed your cheek again and you fell apart, again.</p><p>“I can do this all day, ncinane Dora.” Shuri smirked, both a tease and a promise.</p><p>Over time it became somewhat of an unspoken tradition. You would be stationed in Shuri’s lab, because you were a trainee and Okoye was short of other things to do with you that were, well, safe, and when Shuri came in she would stride over to you, press a kiss to your cheek and continue what she was doing. This happened no matter what. She never forgot and company or lack there-of never stopped it. The first time she did it in front of her brother, you swear he almost astral projected out of his body right then and there.</p><p>“Shuri, that’s really not what the Dora are there for…” He tried to reason, but Shuri wasn’t having any of it. She placed her hands on her hips and playfully glared him down.</p><p>“She’s okay with it. Right, Y/N?” She said, gesturing at me. T’Challa looked at you with an expression of Oh Bast please help me, but what could you say, you didn’t really mind.</p><p>You nodded. “I’m fine with it. Really.”</p><p>Shuri pointed to you, then at her brother, who looked as if he was waiting for the gods above to swoop down and take him, then around the room whilst laughing like a hyena. “Ha! I told you! If you’re allowed to marry a wardog, then I’m allowed to kiss a Dora. It’s the rules.”</p><p>“Oh, this again! Come on!” The king whined, sounding uncharacteristically like a 17-year-old trying to get his parents permission to go out tonight.</p><p>Later that night you were guarding the lab alone. Everyone else had gone home but Shuri was still working, trying to improve yet another gadget once again. As a trainee Dora, you had to stay with the princess, protecting her at all times. The role was honorary, really, Shuri was more than capable of protecting herself, but it was still good insurance. Unfortunately, it meant you couldn’t retire until she did, and this woman was married to her work. Suddenly, she disappeared from the room for about ten minutes and came back with two bowls full of a rice curry. She moved some things and placed them down on the desk, then turned and beckoned you over. For a moment, you stayed glued to your spot.</p><p>“Come on, Okoye isn’t here, and I won’t tell, promise.” She said, taking a bite. You had to admit, it smelt amazing and you were hungry. You took a cautious step forward, expecting Okoye to jump out from behind a doorframe and yell ‘Ah ha! It was a test!’ but nothing happened.</p><p>You sat down across from the princess and took a bite. Somehow it tasted even better than it smelt. You groaned appreciatively, eat more and more like a pig. You didn’t remember your place or who you were in the presence of until a second later, and you rushed to stop before she giggled.</p><p>“Mood.” She said, smiling softly. You were confused but ultimately decided against questioning it.</p><p>There was a pause filled with silence. “So, tell me about yourself.” She finally said.</p><p>And you did. You told her everything, even things you’d never told anyone at all. You told her about being an orphan, about wanting to look after people, and about joining the royal guard to do just that. Shuri was easy to talk too, made things seem brighter, so you didn’t even notice how time flew by. She told you about life as a princess, about America and the rest of the world and everything she knew about. You enjoyed it a lot, but eventually her brother came to drag her kicking and screaming to bed. You were almost sad to be done with it.</p><p>Until Shuri did the same thing the next night. And the next. And the next.</p><p>You and Shuri got closer and closer over those late nights and everyday kisses. You found yourself feeling more and more for the princess. You wanted to spend all of your time with her, and though you were oblivious to it, she was falling for you too.</p><p>She had always been excited for you. Every award, every opportunity that came your way, all of it, until you told her about this mission. Sure, physically, she had smiled and told you she was happy for you, but you could tell she was hiding something under the surface. Sadness? At the time you were too happy to question it, but now…</p><p>Now you were hurt, and dreading telling her.</p><p>It was a simple mission, and you still managed to get shot. The words ran around in your head like a bad song. Sure, it was an arm wound and sure, you would almost certainly live and sure, nobody else had even noticed, too wrapped up in their own problems to pay any mind to you so really, how bad could it be but still, it hurt.</p><p>You didn’t even want anyone to know, bast knows what the consequences would be. This was the first time Okoye trusted you out in the field, what if she never lets you out of the palace again? What if she cuts you from the guard? This people were the only family you had, leaving them made you feel sick to your stomach and brought tears to your eyes. You were an idiot to get hurt, you knew that, and all you wanted right now was to leave and go to the lab. You wanted Shuri.</p><p>“We are about to arrive back at the palace. All injured Dora are to report to medical; the rest are requested by Okoye at the royal courtyard.” The pilot explained, monotoned. The plane jolted as we landed and almost immediately you were up. You covered the injury with a pile of clothing and bandages to hide it and followed the group off the plane.</p><p>You held your arm in close to your side, trying to convince yourself that you weren’t hurt that badly. You ushered the other warriors into the infirmary, but instead of following them down yourself, you turned when everyone else was gone and slipped away, making a beeline for the lab. Every fibre of your body screamed for you not too, this is crazy, but your pain-drunk mind was louder. Shuri, it screamed, you need to see Shuri.</p><p>The walk down to the lab was excruciating. Your arm stung and ached, no matter how much pressure you placed on it, but you smiled and tried to hide it as you walked past the two Dora stationed outside of the doors, silently hoping that they wouldn’t notice the blood dripping through your fingers and onto the floor.</p><p>You were glad to see that the lab was almost completely empty. It was quiet, with the exception of the bottom floor where, true to form, Shuri was bustling around, moving her projects between tables and tapping on holographic images on her beads. She was mumbling things to herself, and you wanted to call out to her and you wanted to call out to her and get her attention, but your voice was stuck in your throat, held captive by pain.</p><p>You descended the staircase, your head feeling lighter and lighter with every step. Shuri noticed you the moment you reached the bottom of the stairs and a huge smile broke onto her face.</p><p>“Y/N!” She squealed, dropping what she was doing and moving to hug you. She stopped about a metre away, and the smile fell off her face when she saw the blood pooling on your sleeve and your pained expression. “what happened?”</p><p>“I-” You try to respond, but at that moment your legs gave way underneath you and you fell. She ran forward, catching you but only just. You fell against her chest, and instinctively wrapped your arms around her, craving her warm embrace.</p><p>She moved to your side, helping you over to the sand table in the centre of the room. She lay you down slowly and carefully, her eyes scanning the wound with pursed lips.</p><p>“You’ve lost a lot of blood.” She huffed, stitching up the wound in a little under a minute and wrapping it up in half the time. Sher was upset, you could tell, but when you tried to talk to her, all that came out was a soft groan. She grimaced.</p><p>“People tell me ‘Don’t worry, Y/N’s an adult, she can look after herself’ but I still worry and of course I’m right! You stay cooped up with me too long, and then when you do go outside, you come back like this! How could you be so irresponsible!?!?” She rambled, yelling less at you and more at the empty space around us.</p><p>“I didn’t mean to get hurt…” You whispered, finally pushing out a coherent sentence whilst staring up at the ceiling. Your words were scratchy and thin, and you felt tears beginning to swell in your eyes once again.</p><p>She shook her head, and when she looked at you again her eyes had softened. “I know you didn’t. Of course, you didn’t. I didn’t mean to yell at you, I just…” She paused, swallowed and continued. “I really care about you, Y/N, I don’t ever want to see you get hurt.” She murmured, her eyes flicking between you, your arm and the floor. “I love you.” She whispered, as soft and quiet as a night-time breeze.</p><p>You’re not proud of it, but you completely froze. Shuri loves me. Shuri is in love with me. The princess of Wakanda is in love with me. I love her. I love Shuri. We love eachother. That’s amazing. Shit, what do I do? You noticed her staring at you and that was able to snap you out of it. Shit, shit! Words, I need to say words!</p><p>“I love you too.” You blurted out, trying to sit up to face her. She moved to grasp your shoulders and gently push you back down with a half-glare, half surprised expression.</p><p>“No, no, no. You’re hurt. Stay down, Entle.” She said, semi-forcefully. You stopped fighting, transfixed by her and her beautiful face and that damn smile that lit up the room. You couldn’t resist pressing a kiss to her lips.</p><p>Her lips felt and tasted better than you ever could have hoped. Sweet and soft and slightly chapped from where she had been chewing it in thought. You could have stayed there forever, drinking in her taste, but you pulled back after a second to look at her.</p><p>“Was that okay?” You asked, swallowing.</p><p>Her hand moved up from your shoulders to hold the sides of your face. “Get back here.” She whispered, pulling you in for another, longer kiss.</p><p>“Hey Shuri, have you seen- Oh.” Okoye nearly dropped her spear when she saw you two. slowly, her lips bent into a soft smile. She turned and left the lab without a further word deciding that, no, it didn’t seem right to disturb something so soft between two people so deeply devoted to one another.</p>
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